The 70th Hunger Games: Allure (District 1)
by EJBlackwood
Summary: Allure is a young girl from District 1. Clumsy and unspectacular, she believes there is no chance of her being chosen as a tribute in the 70th Annual Hunger Games. But internal politics within the District will throw her into a Games that nobody wants her to win.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

I felt my hands slipping on the rope. My fingers started to burn as the rough strands slid through and I tried desperately to fight off gravity.

It was too late.

The ground rushed up and I fell in an undignified heap on the floor. Third time today. I sighed deeply. I could hear the laughter from the other career trainees and the bark of the trainer telling them to focus and continue their exercises.

"Allure!" The trainer barked my name, coming up and shoving her snarling face into mine. I was forced to look into her burning eyes. I couldn't help but flinch away, trying to look anywhere that I wouldn't see her condemnation quite so clearly.

"Look at me!" She yelled, almost spitting as she yanked my face back to hers with a strong, roughened hand on my chin. "You have disgraced your family here today, you will not leave until you have reached the top of this rope. " She looked to the others. "The rest of you, you are dismissed."

There was a bustle of noise as everything threw their weapons back down, picked up bags and left. All I could do was sit on the floor and look up at the rope hopelessly.

It's not that I was awful at the career training; I actually wasn't too bad, but as soon as I knew that someone was watching me, cold sweat broke out on my face, I started to tremble, and every muscle turned to jelly. Jelly isn't good for muscles when one is trying to climb a rope. And so I fell, and everyone saw, and it was embarrassing.

Normally I wouldn't get into so much trouble, but everyone was a bit on edge in the lead up to the pre-reap, especially my class of seventeen to eighteen year olds.

The pre reap is the hidden part of the games in my district. To the rest of Panem, we have volunteers who stand forward proudly on reap day, and fight to the death in the Hunger Games. But behind the scenes of District One, when the cameras aren't even there yet, there is the pre-reap.

As far as I know there is a pre-reap in at least District Two and Four, I don't know about the others. From the tears in some of the lesser districts when names are selected, I would have to assume not. A pre-reap determines who gets first right to volunteer as tribute, to fight for their chance at fame and fortune, to make their family proud. In my class of thirty, I knew at least four of the girls were really desperately hoping for that elusive meeting where the trainers from the school would come and tell them that they had been chosen for the pre-reap.

If anyone asked me, my money would be on Velour, she was by far the strongest of the ones in my class, and she was pretty, which is important in tributes.

I looked back up at the rope, sighing deeply, my father was not going to be happy with me coming home late. I glanced over my shoulder. No one was there anymore; it was just an empty training room. Excellent, maybe now I could actually make some progress.

I jumped high and held on tightly. I shimmied up, one hand over the other, using my legs to push up. It really wasn't so hard when no one was looking.

I reached the roof and hung from one of the beams for a moment, just enjoying my small victory, it was nice having just been laughed at.

"Good job, you can go home now." Said a voice from behind a row of chairs. The trainer had been watching the whole time. Jelly muscles set in and I felt myself falling.

It was too high; I was going to hurt myself. I grabbed for the rope and finally managed to slow myself down enough to hit the ground only a little harder than I had meant to. I walked awkwardly as my ankles struggled to recover. The trainer snorted and left the room, leaving me with a burning face.

I hobbled for a few minutes and then set off at a quick walk, hoping that my parents wouldn't notice that I was late.

I turned onto my street just as the sun was setting and saw the familiar sign "Desiree Perfumery" hanging from my home which also functioned as my father's workshop and store. I felt all of the tension melt out of me as I walked through the door and into the small kitchen and its warm welcoming light.

My mother was placing dinner on the table, perfect timing, I thought. She nodded at me sternly. It wasn't that she was angry; my mother just wasn't the sort of person who would smile. A nod was good enough for me and I washed my hands and face quickly before sitting at the table. I smelled the mouth-watering aroma of cooked stew and could barely hold my hands in my lap as I waited for my father to come up from the workshop. Finally my father arrived and sat next to me with a warm smile.

"Smell this." He said as he pulled up his sleeve and presented his wrist to me. I leant forward and breathed in deeply. It was a kind of exotic smell, something spicy about it; there was definitely Amber oil and a tiny hint of Jasmine and something that almost smelt like cinnamon.

I looked at him questioningly. "It's a new one." He whispered. "Top secret." He winked and turned back to my mother.

My father was training me up to take over the perfume business. There was not a chance that I was ever going to be brilliant enough to be a career, much to my mother's annoyance, so he decided that my place was to take over the family business. As soon as I came out of school in six months, I was going to be full time in the workshop and, honestly, I couldn't wait. I loved the smells and the magic of it all.

My mother indicated that we should eat and I grabbed a roll from the pile and tore into it as my father ladled the stew. It wasn't that we were starving, nothing like the lesser districts; District One knew how to handle its finances, but a whole day of school and then career training made you hungry. I savoured the slightly sweet fluffy white bread. It was freshly made and pure heaven.

My family ate in contented silence until the stew was completely finished. My father sat back with a deep sigh as my mother picked up our dishes. I pushed my chair out, sitting back like my father, so full that my stomach stuck out over my pants, but I didn't care.

Then, unexpectedly, there was a loud knock on the door.

My mother frowned deeply.

"Go and get that for me, will you Allure?" She asked.

I hauled myself to my feet and walked over to the door. Who would be calling at this time of night? It was probably just one of my father's customers.

I unchained the door and opened it.

There, staring at me were two officers from the training school. My breath caught in my throat. Why were they here?

"Allure Desiree?" The taller man asked and I nodded silently. "May we come in, we have some things to discuss." He said in a way that I knew meant he wasn't really asking. I nodded slowly and they walked past me into the dining room.

I closed the door behind then, barely daring to breath.

"What's going on here?" I heard my father demand from the other room and I hurried in before he did anything stupid. The two men sat at the table, making themselves comfortable. One picked up a roll from the basket and bit into it.

"Great bread." He said and my mother nodded her thanks at the compliment. "Allure, I'm sure that you know why we are here." They said and I shook my head.

"No, I'm sorry, I don't." I said, looking from one to the other, questioningly.

The taller man grinned and leaned forward eagerly.

"Well, Allure, we are here to congratulate you. You have been chosen as our female pre-reap tribute." He said, still grinning eerily.

I looked from one to the other, sure that this was a joke. My mother looked shocked but pleased whilst my father looked drawn and afraid. I didn't know which was more terrifying.

I laughed nervously. "Thanks, but no thank you. I have no interest in being a career." I said firmly. The two strangers grinned more.

"It is not a choice, Allure, you are the chosen pre-reap tribute, you will volunteer come reap." They said without batting an eyelid.

I laughed nervously again. Could they do that?

"Why me?" I asked, starting to feel real panic now. "What about Velour or Pearl or…" I struggled against the bile rising in my throat.

"We have determined that you are the best candidate."

I couldn't breathe.

"And if I refuse?" I asked with barely a squeak.

The grins faded from the faces of the two men.

"Your family will be imprisoned and you will be killed." The tall man said. I didn't doubt for a moment that he was telling the truth.

I looked from my mother to my father and back to the men. How could this be happening? I had been awful in training. I had never even expressed an interest in volunteering as a tribute. Surely there was someone else who could do this for me.

But staring at the hard faces of the men who bid us goodbye and walked out of our once warm and friendly house, I knew that my chance of escape was gone. I would have to volunteer as tribute for District One. I could only wonder who the boy tribute would be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The next two days passed in a surreal blur as I tried to come to terms with the fact that I was going to have to volunteer for the reap. I tried desperately to hide my fear from my family. My mother was proud of me and was bragging to anyone who would listen about her brilliant daughter who was chosen to volunteer for District One. My father had lapsed into a moody silence since the visit of the man. He could barely look at me and I couldn't blame him. I knew how hard it was going to be for him seeing me raise my hand and call out those echoing, impossible words 'I volunteer'.

As I tried to continue my life as normal, I couldn't help but notice the men in uniform following me around. So it was true, they were going to force me to volunteer whether I liked it or not. I tried desperately to ignore them.

At training I didn't share this information with anyone. I wasn't particularly close to anyone in my training centre; I wasn't competitive enough and had always been a bit of a loner. But I saw the growing restlessness of the girls who had been hoping to be picked. First there was the tension. Then people started asking each other if they had received a visit. Then there was the all out brawling as tempers flared with disappointment and, for them, the mystery of who was pre-reap tribute remained.

On the day of the reap, my mother cooked so much food that anyone would have thought she was trying to feed the whole of District One. I sat sullenly at the kitchen table, trying to ignore the crashes coming from my father's workshop. The crashes had been getting louder, so had his cursing and yells.

"Eat up," my mother said, shaking slightly. The realities of the games had started to hit home for her and she was having trouble making eye contact with me. I tried to force food into my mouth, but somehow I had forgotten how to chew. In the end, I just gave up on eating and instead went up to my bedroom to get ready.

I stood in front of my mirror. A beautiful cream and gold dress sat on my bed. My mother must have put it there. The site of it made my stomach clench.

I pushed aside my anxiety and concentrated. There was only an hour until the reap and I would say goodbye to my family, maybe forever. I looked at myself in the mirror.

My tired blue eyes stared back at me. I knew exactly what I was in for, and somehow that didn't make it any easier. For a little while I would be a celebrity and then I would be thrust into the arena. If I survived, I would be showered with riches and become a celebrity in District 1, if I didn't… then I didn't.

I sat down and started to put a fine dusty powder over my face, my mother would expect me to look presentable. I pulled my hair back into small plaits and tied the whole thing up away from my neck. I checked myself in the mirror. Yes, I definitely looked more confident than I was feeling and, more importantly, I looked like a victor.

I had spent the entire night before mulling over my strategy for the games. I wasn't a good fighter, I mean, I was definitely going to be better than the lesser districts, but up against the careers from two I wouldn't stand a chance. I would be expected to join up with the other careers to form a hunting pack at the beginning, that much was certain. But after that, there was not much chance I would survive against the others.

I stepped into the beautiful dress, it fit me perfectly and I had to admire my mother's work, she had never been the best sewer so she definitely hadn't made the flowing dress, but she must have managed to find someone somewhere in District One who could make textiles because I hadn't seen anything like this before.

I looked at myself again in the mirror. Yes, this was going to work.

Staring back at me was a fierce, yet beautiful tribute. She looked nothing like me of course, but that was the joy of the make up made in District 1, it could do amazing things.

This was going to be my strategy: pretend to be better than I am. It was the only thing that I could think to do, maybe some sponsor would see me, find me attractive and give me things. It was worth a shot. The older female District 1 tributes often used this method, why couldn't I do the same?

A loud trumpet called through the town and I knew that it was time… had it really been a whole hour? I took one last look around my bedroom with a sigh and made my way downstairs.

My mother was at the door, waiting to escort me to the reap.

"Where's father?" I asked quietly. She shook her head and I felt the breath knock out of me. He wasn't even coming to see it. I choked back tears as I headed towards the door.

"You look beautiful, darling." My mother said but I barely heard her.

We made our way through the cobbled streets to where the reap would be held. It was a large concrete outdoor space with a huge arcing roof over it to keep us cool or dry, depending on which was needed. At the front was the podium, which had sometimes been used as a stage by the schools to put on performances for capitol visitors. I had been in one once, but I wasn't a very good singer so had been all the way up the back. I signed in, said a quick goodbye to my mother and joined the lines of young people crowding up in front of the stage.

I could see a couple of people looking at me curiously. It was often easy to tell who was going to volunteer because of how well they were dressed and I certainly stood out, but I was glad to see I wasn't the only one so I could avoid all of their eyes for as long as possible.

I looked over to the boys, trying to pick out who would be the male volunteer. I couldn't see well enough to make any sort of decision.

Before I could think any more, fifteen people filed onto the stage, immaculately dressed and beautiful. These were the previous victors; all rich, all stunning and all deadly. There were five men and ten women, some of them fairly old now. For some reason, District One had a much stronger habit of producing female victors than male ones. The thought gave me a small ray of comfort.

Beryl Banner, the District One spokeswoman from the capitol came up to a microphone at the front of the stage, swirling in neon green fabric. I was starting to feel very sick. I tried to concentrate and tell myself that the games wouldn't be for a while yet and so I had nothing to fear, and then nearly laughed at myself as I realised that what I was most afraid of was tripping over the stairs in front of everyone.

Beryl welcomed everyone to the 70th Hunger Games. There was the stereotypical film about why the games were important for the unity of Panem and I watched distractedly as some of the young boys theatrically mocked the film. It was pretty funny.

Then, all too soon, the moment had come. Next to Beryl there were two big bowls full of slips of paper with names on them. But these were just a formality. Beryl licked her lips with excitement.

"Now, before we select a tribute, District One has a rich history of volunteers. So, to save us time, do we have a female volunteer?" She asked in an excited, bubbly voice.

This was it, people looked around at the other girls. It was my turn to speak, but I couldn't breath. I thought of my mother and what they would do to her if I couldn't open my mouth, but still nothing came out. People were getting restless. I saw a peacekeeper shuffle his gun. Still I couldn't speak. Then, at the front of the crowd I saw my father and his haggard face. He was there after all. I could do this.

"I volunteer as tribute!" I yelled, almost too loud and made my way up to the podium. There was a hushed silence, no one had expected it to be me. I saw Velour's angry face from the crowd and could tell that she felt that she had been cheated.

I made my way to the dreaded steps and somehow, miraculously, didn't fall over myself up them. I reached Beryl and turned back to the people watching. They started to clap and cheer, and I felt relief flood through me. At least my district was behind me.

I lifted up my chin and managed a triumphant smile even though my stomach felt like it had fallen down, far below me, somewhere near the centre of the earth.

I faintly heard Beryl ask if there were any male victors and a tall blonde, muscled boy who really looked like more of an adult stepped forward. I recognised him. His name was Jasper and most of the girls in my class had a bit of a crush on him. He swaggered up to the stage and smiled winningly at the people below us. He was charming, and from what I had seen of him, he was a very, very good fighter. He would make a good ally… and a deadly foe.

The crowd finally stopped cheering and Jasper and me were led off the stage into a building where Beryl Banner and the victors were waiting for us.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

I sat alone in a lush room in the mayoral house, waiting for my parents to come in and say goodbye. On the table in the centre of the room, someone had put a light lunch for me but I barely picked at it as I waited.

I knew that I would be in this room for a while. Whilst I knew that the other districts would be heading to the Capitol already, we would wait right until the very end. We were too close to warrant leaving any earlier and we would be timed to make sure that there wasn't too long a gap between the arrivals.

As I thought about my arrival in the Capitol, my stomach gave a sickening lurch. There would be so many people waiting to see me. I swallowed back what I was sure would be vomit and tried to calm down. It seemed that my fear of attention was going to have to be the first challenge of the Hunger Games for me. Finally my parents walked into the room and I ran into my father's arms. He hugged me tightly and I could tell that he had been crying.

My mother went and sat down on a chair frailly. My father pulled away from me and moved into the centre of the room.

"I have something for you." He said, his voice choked from his tears and rummaged in his coat for a moment. Then he pulled out a small vial of perfume and handed it to me. I looked at the small vial and read the tiny writing on the side "Allure" it said and I smiled at my father. He didn't smile back.

"This isn't just a perfume, Allure." He said sternly.

"Then what is it?" I asked curiously, turning the vial over and over in my hands.

"It's a pheromone rich perfume." He said and I looked back blankly. He smiled gently at me.

"If you wear it around people, they will immediately like you. I would use it around the sponsors and anyone else you can." He explained. I smiled back. At least we were both on the same page in our strategy.

When the time came for them to leave, I didn't know what to say. What do you say when you probably wont see the people you care about most in the world, ever again?

I hugged both of them. I told them that I loved them. They wished me good luck. There was nothing else we could do. Too soon, they were escorted out of the room and I was shuffled to the train station to start my journey to the Capitol.

As I walked down to the station, I saw Jasper walking down as well. I had to avert my eyes quickly, he terrified me. We walked aboard together and went into the dining cart where two of the beautiful victors and Beryl were sitting waiting for us.

"Sit, sit." Said Beryl, gesturing to the two spare chairs at the table. Jasper and I sat down opposite each other. "Now," started Beryl. "Allure and Jasper, it is great to have you here, I'm sure you'll make District One proud." I found myself nodding and at least pretending to listen cool-headedly. Maybe I was becoming a better at this attention thing.

"Here are your coaches." She continues gesturing to the two beautiful people sitting at the table. "Allure, your trainer will be Cashmere, she won the games six years ago." She said gesturing to the proud, blonde, tanned girl to my right. "Jasper you will be with Erran, he won the 46th games." She said gesturing to a man in his sixties. He had silvered hair and lines near his eyes, but he still looked fighting fit and formidable.

I couldn't help but feel like I would have preferred the older man than the scarily stern woman, but I was stuck with who I was stuck with. As I was looking at the victors, I became aware that Jasper was staring at me intently. I refused to look at him, but I was unnerved. Beryl cleared her throat and assumed a business-like tone.

"Right then, it is very important for our district that we are presentable. You both did a good job with your clothing this morning, I think that we are off to a good start." She said and smiled at the both of us. I suddenly felt uncomfortable in my dress and wished that I had worn something a bit less showy.

As she continued to plan, two waiters came into the dining car and delivered some fresh looking fruit and some of the fluffy bread. I really did not feel like eating. They then delivered two glasses of some thick white liquid to Jasper and myself. I looked at the liquid suspiciously and turned to Beryl with a disgusted look on my face.

"It's a protein drink, it's all you'll be eating until the games." She explained. "It will make sure you can last if there are food problems and it will help you put on muscle quicker."

I looked back at the drink and I could see that Jasper wasn't exactly fond of it either. He sniffed it suspiciously and then drank the whole cup full in one go, finishing breathlessly and shaking his head as though he had just taken a strong drink. I held my nose and drank as much of it as I could. It wasn't that it tasted bad, it was just so thick and rich and strange. I finally managed to drink the whole thing as we rounded a corner into a tunnel and we left the suburbs of District One behind.

A sickening green light flashed on our faces in the tunnel, making us all look rather alien. I held my breath, knowing what I would see next as the train started to slow down. The tunnel ended suddenly and my stomach dropped even further down, if that was even possible.

There was the station with hundreds of Capitol people in their lurid clothing, shouting and waving. I saw Jasper get to his feet, but I beat him to the window. I swallowed up my fear and waved regally at the spectators.

Through the glass, I heard them scream even louder in their excitement. I felt proud, I had made sure that I was the first tribute to be seen. That always counted for something. I felt Jasper sidle up next to me and wave to the audience too.

"Nice work." He said. I smiled back sweetly and shrugged. I didn't like the tone of his voice. There was a threat in there and my brow furrowed as I wondered if I had started making enemies too quickly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

From the train we were escorted to the beautician centre and I was taken away from Jasper, Cashmere, Beryl and Erran and shown into a clean, shiny metal room.

I changed from my dress into the blue short gown that they had left there for me. I remember my father wearing something similar in the medical centre when he had stomach problems. My own stomach wasn't feeling so great as I wondered what they were going to do to me that would require a medical gown.

I needn't have been so worried.

Two capitol people in white clothing arrived and did little more than my mother did on a regular basis. My eyes watered as they plucked my brows and I heard footsteps.

Wiping my pain induced tears away I sat up on the metal table. A woman with blue eyelashes that stood two inches from her face and no eyebrows at all that I could see walked in with a cart full of equipment. She introduced herself as Anthousa, my stylist.

She clucked around me, looking at my hair, turning my face this way and that and finally standing back and have an all over look.

"You'll do." She said and started pulling things from the cart.

I sat mutely, letting her work and hoping that she wouldn't do anything else that would hurt-no more plucking!

After a while she gestured to me to put on my parade costume.

I walked over to a dress of luscious cream fabric embedded with diamonds. I nodded and smiled at Anthousa, she had done a good job, much better than most years.

I pulled on the dress and looked at myself in the mirror. I was even less recognisable than this morning. I was very grateful for that. Somehow it made everything easier if I could just be someone else.

"Excellent, well, I think you are ready to go." She said and walked out of the room, taking her cart with her.

When I was sure no one was looking, I pulled out my father's perfume. I was rather proud of thinking to hide it in the folds of my dress at the front and as I opened the stopper and the subtle hints of cinnamon, lavender and some other strange concoction melted into the air.

I sprayed a little all over myself, mostly at my neck, hoping that it would somehow gain me favour with anyone who was watching.

After a few more nervous minutes they guided me out of the room and to the parade.

I remembered watching the parade when I was very young, too young to understand what was really going on. I remembered being so excited to see District One come out blazing first in the line of tributes. Everyone looked so beautiful and brave. A part of my young, naïve mind had wanted to be one of those people; to have everyone cheer me on, to look beautiful and fearless.

That was before I had realised, on my tenth birthday, that most of those waving, beautiful, fearless celebrities wouldn't make it through the next weeks alive. It was before I realised that it could never have been me because I was inept at pretty much every skill that would be required in the arena. Or so I had thought.

I walked up to the line of tributes, all dressed in clothes representing their district.

I saw Jasper step up to chariot. He looked brilliant and for a second I worried that he would outshine me and get more sponsors. Then I remembered that I had been made up by the stylists too, it was all about confidence.

I walked up confidently, keeping my chin high and barely deigning to look at Jasper.

He smiled ruefully at me and I knew he saw straight through me.

I ignored him.

After a moment, the chariots lurched forward and we were off. I stood as straight and proud as I could as we approached the opening that would take us into the parade grounds.

I could hear hundreds of people and then, before I knew it, we were blinded by the light glaring at us.

The entire crowd roared as our chariot pulled out into the sunlight.

I waited a moment for my eyes to adjust and then I saw them all.

When I had watched the parade every year, I had never realised just how big the parade grounds were. I was hit with a wall of noise as people cheered us on.

I couldn't help but feel strangely buoyed up by their cheers. They were cheering for District One. Maybe I could do this.

We finished up in a large semicircle in front of a podium so tall I could barely see President Snow at the top.

He said a few short words as people continued to cheer and then, as quickly as it had started, we were whisked away into another tunnel.

It was all over.

I dismounted as Anthousa arrived with Beryl.

"You did brilliantly." Said Beryl as she escorted us quickly out of the room.

As they steered us away I got a quick look at the other tributes. The boy and girl from district two, both dark haired, both fierce looking, were staring at me and Jasper.

I felt instantly uneasy under their gaze, but I didn't have long to do so. Beryl led us out of the door and closed it firmly behind her.

After we had quickly removed our parade garb, Beryl called a meeting in the dining room of our suite. The place was nice. We were on the bottom floor which meant two things, one that we didn't have to bother with the elevator to get to our rooms. Two, and much more importantly, was that through a window we could see all of the other tributes returning to their suites.

Cashmere and Erran sat next to Jasper and I and they decided that now was a good time to start briefing us on the other tributes.

First to return was the two District Two tributes.

"Slade and Acacia." Cashmere said. "They are both careers, both highly trained, they will be your toughest competition, but they will almost certainly be your initial allies. We will confirm that before the games. Just remember they will bond quickly. District Two is aiming for them to be the final two. Don't trust them."

Then came District Three.

"The boy is young." Erran said. "Not a threat, the girl is apparently a bit of a genius. Make sure that you don't let them near anything in the cornucopia."

Next came District Four.

"Boy is a tribute." Erran explained. "Girl was selected from the bowl. She will not be a threat. District Four is always atrocious in the initial bloodbath, afterwards they are not so useless. Aim to kill both of them then if they don't agree to become a part of the career pack."

And so it continued, as the different districts came through, sometimes with up to fifteen minutes gap between each; I wondered what was taking them so long. Some of the tributes were desperately young. They were unlikely to even make it through the bloodbath.

Cashmere and Erran gave less and less information as they explained the tributes, apparently the upper districts were the only ones we had to worry about. Seeing the gaunt faces and defeated eyes, I could see that they had a point.

We got to District Ten and Cashmere sighed.

"I'm bored." She said and got to her feet. "It's only District Eleven and Twelve left. They're not really a threat, but watch out for the boy from Eleven, those ones can be strong." With that parting information she slouched off towards her room.

Even bored, she was still magnificent and I was left in no doubt as to why she had won her games.

I looked at Erran with his greying hair and regal nose, yes, I could see him as a victor too.

With that Jasper turned to me with a winning grin and got to his feet, showing off his muscles as he did so. He definitely had the makings of a victor.

I sighed and looked at myself in the reflection of the window as the District Eleven tributes came in. I just saw a weak, frightened girl, nothing impressive, definitely not a victor.

I rested my head on my knees as two kids who couldn't be older than eleven came in from District Twelve. They looked terrified. I felt a pang of guilt knowing that my survival relied on them being killed by me or someone else. But I pushed the thought away. I couldn't afford to think about morals right now. Right now, I had to plan how I was going to stay alive.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

I was woken by Cashmere before the sun was up the next morning. I was surprised that I had slept at all; my stomach was a ball of nerves. Today we would start training. I choked down the milky drink for breakfast. It was definitely disgusting, but I had felt somehow healthier since having it, stronger and more confident. That was definitely a plus.

Beryl took us down to the training room, we would start off with group training and then Cashmere and Erran would take us individually on the last day to plan our strategy. I was nervous about working in front of the other tributes. They would be judging me, expecting me to be good. District One always had the distinction of being considered exceptional, as did District Two. I just hoped against hope that I would live up to the expectations.

A woman in Capitol uniform explained the rules of the Hunger Games to us and told us the current statistics on how we would die. I briefly thought that maybe this was a little insensitive, but pushed the thought aside. Now was not the time to be polite. After more instructions that, I am embarrassed to say, I did not listen to, we were told to go and train on a station of our choosing. The young children went for the fishing or the survival skills in a few clumps. There seemed to be too many young ones.

I watched as Jasper went straight to the station with the biggest weapons. Of course he would go straight for the swords and things. I looked around. What was I really good at? Nothing came the echoing answer. That was helpful. I kept looking. I could use plenty of the weapons, many of them I could probably defend myself with. But what was the use in training things that I had already trained on. It wasn't like I was going to become brilliant in a week. More likely I would just embarrass myself.

Then I saw one station that remained unoccupied. It was a large climbing mesh that arced overhead. I headed towards it.

I wasn't the best climber, but everyone was crowding around Jasper watching as he swung a sword around, hitting pretty much anything and everything. I rolled my eyes. I knew from his technique that he wasn't practising, he was showing off.

I climbed higher and higher. I reached the roof and looped my legs up and pushed my body through one of the wider holes. I was on top of it. I crept up and nestled myself in the metre high gap between the mesh and the roof. Feeling more comfortable than I had since finding out that I was going to have to volunteer, I congratulated myself on finding the only place in the training centre that no one would think to look. I was completely hidden from view.

But I wasn't here to hide. I was here to watch. I already knew that I would have to separate Jasper from his sword if I wanted to beat him. I also knew that playing to his ego would probably get me on his good side. I just had to find out about the others. Once I knew them, I could beat them.

Before I knew it, it was time to show off our skills. I knew that this was important, but somehow I couldn't bring myself to be enthusiastic. I found myself becoming more and more melancholy as the weeks progressed.

I had managed to infiltrate myself well with the other careers by providing valuable information on the other tributes. Well, that, and the perfume that my father had given me that I sprayed liberally on myself. The career pack was taking shape; it was led by Jasper and Slade, of course, male ego winning out. Acacia was quiet but deadly, I had seen her with a javelin on the second day and whilst she didn't fight the boys for leadership, when she spoke they seemed to shut up. The boy from 4 was another quiet one, he was brought on mostly because we all knew that he was a career and with him, he dragged a terrified looking red haired girl from his district. That made six including me. The odds were looking decidedly in our favour.

For the test, I decided on a bow and arrow. It had been a toss up between that and the knives. I wanted to make sure that I didn't have to get close to anyone to kill them, which would give me an advantage since most of the other were using close range contact weapons. In theory I could kill them before they even saw me coming. I settled on archery because I figured there would be more arrows in a quiver than small knives in the cornucopia.

I had been all right at archery back in District One. As long as I remembered to concentrate, I could hit a target from at least twenty metres away. It would have to be enough.

We waited in a holding room for our training. I saw many legs jiggling with nervous energy. Jasper was called in first and I saw him swagger off into the room. I didn't know what to expect. This part of the pre-games ritual was never televised and the doors looked more ominous than anything I had seen so far.

I heard the speaker click on.

"Allure Desiree"

I swallowed hard and got to my feet. I walked towards the door and was startled to see some of the younger tributes shying away from me as though afraid. My performance must have been convincing these past few days.

I strode into the high roofed room and was met by a line of people watching me. I could tell from their clothes that they were influential people, probably the betters. I looked around the room and saw the archery stand. Excellent, I thought and strode over towards it. I was about to pick up the bow and arrow when something caught my eye. It was a large industrial fan. I had an idea.

I moved over to the fan and pulled it over to where the bow and arrow were waiting. I pointed it so that I was between it and the line of people watching.

I grinned at them apologetically.

"It's hot in here." I said by way of explanation and saw them smile.

In one deft motion I pulled out my fathers perfume and splashed a heap across my body, hoping that they wouldn't notice the movement as I tried to continue fluidly to reach for the arrow. I didn't have to look around to know that the perfume had worked. I heard a soft but distinctive collective sigh from the spectators.

I brought the arrow up and let fly. I missed the bullseye by a little bit, but I knew that it didn't matter. I turned to the watchers and bowed, smiling sweetly.

"Thank you for having me." I said and turned to leave. As I did so, I pretended to crash slightly into the fan. I laughed breezily. "My goodness, I hope you wont take marks off me." I said. The spectators laughed appreciatively.

I walked out of the room knowing that as soon as I walked out of the door, the air that had been pushed up by the fan would have passed on as I had 'crashed' into it, pushing it in the other direction, and they would have felt sad that I had left.

That night, as we watched the coverage of the Hunger Games, I held my breath to see my score. I was very thankful that I would be the first to be called out. Caesar Flickerman grinned onto the screen and began to announce the scores. I could hardly move.

"First up, the lovely Allure from District One. We have a score of nine." I exhaled deeply. It was perfect. High enough that I would be considered useful, but not high enough that I would be a career target.

I noticed that the others were all staring at me curiously. Apparently it hadn't occurred to them that I might be a threat and I could see them all wondering what I could possibly have done to deserve a nine. I just shrugged at them and avoided their eyes, pretending to be enthralled with the coverage. After a moment, they seemed to get over me and turned their attention back to the coverage too. I settled back, pleased with myself and watched Jasper get his ten. Maybe it wasn't quite so hopeless after all.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The last day of the pre-games came around and I was not feeling good. I seemed to have wormed my way into the career pack without any of them actually knowing that I would be useless in the arena, but tonight would be one of my most important nights; my interview. It was now that I had to get sponsors.

Anthousa got Jasper and me ready and, of course, she had worked her usual magic to make me look like someone who might actually win a Games. She had done something funny to the make up on my face so that my cheekbones looked higher, everything looked more angular and my eyes seemed to blaze with a competitive fire that I knew did not exist in them whatsoever.

I waited backstage with all of the other tributes, trying not to fiddle nervously; this backstage part was as much of the show as on the stage. Jasper finished his interview with thunderous applause. Then it was my turn. I wondered briefly if Caesar would make some sort of pun out of my name – it wasn't exactly a difficult leap.

"And now, from District One, let's see if we find her…alluring…" there is was. "…say hello to ALLURE!"

The crowd cheered loudly and I walked out on stage, hoping against hope that I wouldn't trip over my long dress. Caesar greeted me with his usual wide, toothy grin and this year's bleached white eyebrows.

"Allure, Allure, Allure!" He said warmly, almost tutting out the syllables and held his arm out to embrace me in front of everyone. I smiled back warmly. He led me to the two chairs in the middle of the stage.

The interview itself was pretty easy. Caesar gave me many lead-in lines and I answered sweetly or coquettishly depending on what was required. By the end of it, I knew that I had done well and was able to breathe a very deep sigh of relief.

I walked down off the stage and rubbed absent-mindedly at the stitching on the side of my dress. It was exceptionally itchy and I cursed Anthousa with frustration as I walked past the other tributes and out into a room to get out of the stupid dress.

Anthousa met me and congratulated me as I watched the District Two boy flex his muscles and Caesar pretend to be overawed as he felt them. I rolled my eyes.

Anthousa helped me out of my costume and I was about to get into some more appropriate clothing when Cashmere and Erran barged into the room. They took one look at Anthousa and barked at her to leave. She did so with much grumbling as I tried desperately to cover as much of myself as I could from their eyes. It wasn't easy. Cashmere snorted.

"It's nothing I haven't seen before." She said and Erran went over to turn off the screening of the other interviews. I dragged my shirt over my head and felt a little better.

"Sit down." They told me and I sat nervously on a bench, still feeling vulnerable and exposed with my pants in my lap. Cashmere and Erran closed in on me.

"This Hunger Games," Cashmere began. "We will be focussing our attention on Jasper. He is going to win and you are going to lose."

I opened my mouth in protest but no words came out. What were they saying? They looked at me to see if I understood.

"Why?" I eventually choked out. Hadn't I done everything that they asked me? Hadn't I done everything right? Cashmere sighed.

"We have too many female victors from District One, it looks bad. Last year's victor…"

"Female District One." Erran said.

Cashmere continued. "Four years ago's victor…"

"Female District One." Erran piped in.

"Six years ago…"

"Cashmere, female District One."

"But," I spluttered desperately. "The year before that it was Gloss, your brother, he was a boy!"

"He has been the only boy since Erran won his games." Cahsmere said gravely. "Do you know how long that was?"

I gulped.

"Twenty four years ago." Cashmere answered for me. "In nearly forty years there have only been two male District One victors while there have been five female and all of them around 18. We are getting a reputation for winning for reasons other than our skill or strength. People are starting to say that we use our looks or our charms and that is a dangerous thing. The Capitol does not like to feel that their…baser…urges are being manipulated. We need a strong male victor from District One this year. " She concluded.

I sat speechless. What could they possibly be saying? Surely this was some sort of joke; everyone knew that the District One girls used their femininity and sexual appeal; it was how we won!

But they didn't want that.

"Now, when you get into the arena, you are to protect Jasper as much as possible and when the time comes, he will kill you. It's how it has to be." Erran said, leaning forward in what I supposed he must have assumed was a comforting way.

It wasn't comforting.

How could they do this to me?

I tried to breathe.

"And if he gets killed too early?" I asked, barely daring to know the answer.

"Then you can fight to the death to save yourself." Cashmere said. "But we wont be doing any favours to save you. We don't need another female District One victor."

With that they left.

I sat stunned as Anthousa came back in to remove my make up. She tutted and helped me put my pants on in what was the kindest way she could probably manage. I was grateful.

When I was cleaned up and composed I managed to make my way back to the suites with Anthousa's help. She bid me farewell and said that she would be cheering me on in the arena.

I walked back past Cashmere, Erran, and Beryl who were all talking in whispers to Jasper as he sat concentrating intently. They were probably prepping him for the next day, giving him advice, helping him to beat me. I shut the door on my bedroom and lay back, knowing that I would never sleep whilst this dark cloud of no hope hung on me.

I was alone!

I was alone.

I….was…alone…

So no one could possibly tell me what to do. What could they possibly do to me from outside the arena? I didn't have to follow their rules; I only had to make it look like I was. And the instructions had come from Cashmere and Erran, not from Beryl so this was clearly not a Capitol matter. The Capitol controlled the games, not District One. I might still be able to fight this without them!

A small thrill ran up my spine. Maybe I was going to be ok. I rolled over, holding my little light of hope close to my chest, and I feel into a deep, deep sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

I woke up stiff but well rested the next morning. This was a very good thing. I stretched a bit and got my blood pumping as I heard Beryl coming to my room to lead me out into the transports that would take us to the arena. My heart would not stop thumping but I managed to appear calm as we were strapped into our seats and our trackers were implanted.

Jasper was sitting opposite me and stared as they lined up the thin, silver machine that would insert my tracker. I felt that this was some sort of test. I refused to even jump as it went into me. He smiled again and I returned it with twice the sweetness.

Then, before I knew it, we were separated and taken to our individual rooms. I looked over my shoulder and saw out of the corner of my eye that everyone was being led in a way that those from the same districts were being split up. That would make it harder for our career pack to get together. This was frustrating.

I was led into a stark, silver room with a clear tube in the centre. So this was how the tributes had just appeared when I had been watching.

I quickly got dressed into the clothing laid out for me. I took a look. It was fairly lightweight so that meant the arena was likely to be hot, although there was a thin jacket. Ergh, I thought, heat never made things fun.

There was a pair of gloves and a strange pair of shoes, both seemed to have some sort of grip on them. Would there be climbing? Remembering my abysmal climbing skills I really hoped not.

"Prepare to enter the arena. Departure in thirty seconds." A clinical female voice said over a speaker.

I breathed in slowly and made my way to the tube. I was feeling lightheaded. Lightheaded is not a good way to feel when entering the arena. What if I died in the first ten minutes? That would be so embarrassing for a District One tribute. I pushed the thought aside. I wasn't going to die, I was going to win.

I got into the tube and in closed around me. Lucky I wasn't too claustrophobic.

"Ten seconds." Said the voice. I tried to relax. Being jittery was not going to help anyone.

"Five seconds." There was a deafening silence. No one was around. No one could see me. Then the tube started lifting me up and I got a slight wave of vertigo.

Bright sunlight burst in through the top. I felt a soft breeze. I let me eyes readjust and then I saw the arena and gasped.

The entire arena was one huge cement bowl with the cornucopia in the middle. The bowl was huge, but there was nowhere to hide.

I started to panic.

There was nowhere to hide.

The huge clock started counting down. I looked around frantically and saw in the cement walls had grips, things to hold onto. I looked up higher; there were little caverns in the side of the bowl. They would provide safety but it would be next to impossible not to be seen.

I looked to the cornucopia. Anyone with anything long-ranging could just sit up the top and pick people off.

I saw the bow.

I had to get that bow. If I didn't, I was dead.

The clock was counting down the last ten seconds. A little away from me I saw Jasper, poised to run. I caught his eye and nodded to him. He nodded back. Excellent, we were on the same side.

"3…2…1."

I ran.

I sprinted across the concrete, passing some of the lesser districts. One thing you had to say about District One, at least we were fit enough for this. I made it to the cornucopia just after Jasper and Slade.

Slade threw a sword to Jasper in a show of solidarity. It seemed that our career pack was still tight. I ran straight for the bow, which was hidden quite deep inside the cornucopia and slung it over my shoulder.

I kept low, letting Jasper, Slade, Acacia and the boy from District 4 do all of the dirty work. I really had to learn that boy's name. I saw some small knives and, when no one was looking, stashed them inside my uniform. If they didn't know how armed I was, that would be a good thing.

I proceeded to look through the rest of the stuff. Food, good. Water, excellent. Some sort of medical gel, I hid that in my clothing. Some shelter-type thing. This would be all there was.

I looked up quickly at the other tributes and my breath caught. There were seven people lying dead on the ground, mostly young and all from the outer districts. All of the rest must have run, I could see the last of them now. One looked injured. Slade and Jasper were cleaning their swords and Acacia was returning from chasing away the others. The two District Four people were standing awkwardly. The girl in particular didn't look like she was a career, she kept avoiding people's eyes.

"I found food, water and shelter materials in here." I reported to Jasper, pushing a spare bottle of water under a pile of swords as I did so. It wouldn't hurt if I had a little more than the rest of them. He nodded, thinking.

"We should keep it with us all the time." He said. "That way no one can destroy it." I nodded and started sorting it into piles.

"I don't want to carry that around!" Slade said angrily. "We wont be able to hunt, we should just keep it in a safe place." Jasper looked like he was going to throttle him and I noticed that they both took a step forward subconsciously.

"It's ok." I said, brightly. "I can carry it, I'm not that amazing with hunting anyway." I smiled at them both, acting as though I was just trying to stop the argument.

They nodded, believing me. Idiots. I wanted the supplies with me so that I could make a clean run when the time comes. No one is going to come after me, I'm the girl.

I strapped a big bag of supplies onto my back and the six of us walked out of the cornucopia. We looked around. Yes, it was definitely just a large concrete bowl. Not the most interesting of arenas.

Up the sides of the bowl, the other tributes were scrambling away from us, trying to find safe places. It didn't matter, we could see them all. Slade laughed.

"This is almost too easy." He said and sat down on the body of one of the dead tributes.

We all watched as the injured boy made his way up last, trying to haul a mutilated arm up behind him. I felt sorry for him. Inevitably, he slipped and, screaming, he fell down the concrete bowl. There was a sickening splat as his body shattered across the cement.

The District 4 girl started whimpering. Jasper laughed at her.

"Don't laugh." The District 4 boy said quietly. Jasper turned his attention to him.

"What did you say to me?" He asked. Oh no, I thought and stepped away slowly. Jasper was starting to get angry. "What did you say to me?" He yelled and I was sure that the entire arena could hear him. The District 4 boy stood his ground.

"I told you not to laugh at her. Not everyone has been bred for blood lust like you monsters." He said. This was too much for both Jasper and Slade.

Almost in sync they swung their swords and sliced through the neck of the District 4 boy. He fell down lifeless.

This was going to be a fast games.

The District 4 girl started screaming blue murder. She wouldn't stop. I threw my hands over my ears to stop the terrible screaming, but still it came through. I'd had enough.

I ran towards the cement wall. The other careers could do what they wanted. I was getting away from the screams. I reached the wall and scuttled up, one hand above the other. I wasn't even really looking where I was going.

I reached up to the first cave and saw two tributes, probably from nine or ten, shy away from me. I ignored them. I kept on climbing. I was going to reach the top. I didn't dare look down for fear of the vertigo that I knew would come.

I climbed until the backs of my legs ached and my fingers groaned. The gloves and shoes did little to help me at all. Finally, breathing hard, I reached the top of the bowl and the highest cave. No one else had made it this high.

I shoved my huge pack in first and then swung myself in afterwards. It was a nicely sided cave, enough room for maybe two people to sleep comfortably. There was even a lip at the end so that I wouldn't roll out.

It was then, and only then, that I dared to look out over the edge of the cave and back at my fellow careers. Slade, Jasper and Acacia were huddled near the cornucopia. The District Four girl was nowhere to be seen. Had she escaped? I hadn't heard a canon, but then again, I doubt I would have noticed if one had gone off.

I lay back down into the cave and rested for a moment. Soon it would be nightfall, and I would know how many were left. I could deal with it then.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

I had barely rested my eyes for a minute when I jumped awake. I couldn't rest. The image of Jasper or Slade or Acacia leaning over me, ready to slit my throat kept popping up, projected across my eyelids so I couldn't sleep.

I leaned over the side of my little cave. The three remaining careers were still down the bottom of the bowl, but they were loading packs onto themselves. It seemed that they had found food or else they would have come straight for me. But, by the looks of it, they weren't going to be down there for long. Fear gripped my throat; that could mean nothing good for me.

I leaned back in as the dark fell. As everything grew blacker and blacker, I could feel my hearing getting better. There were no sounds of the town that I was used to. There weren't even the sounds of nature that I had heard on my rare but precious trips with my father out into the forests looking for exotic ingredients for perfumes. There was just the hollow, echoey sound of wind rushing through the bowl. Occasionally I could hear the sounds of people moving, a cough or a whispered conversation, but there was no way of telling where anyone was.

There was just me and the black. It felt incredibly lonely.

I hugged myself for comfort and then the music of the capitol started. In years gone by, this would have meant that people around me lost bets or others celebrated as the District Ones survived the first night. It was never particularly clear who had survived the first day so this little display of sacrificed human life tended to clear things up for all of us.

I crawled out to the front of the cave again, carefully this time, touching the ground in front of me and making sure I didn't take a nose dive from the top of the arena.

I looked out. First up flashed the District 4 boy's face. Well, I knew exactly how he had died. Then came the boy from 5, both from 6, the boy from 7, the girl from 8, both from 9, the girl from 11 and both from 12. No surprises there, really.

So that left fourteen of us. I settled back into my cave. Among those fourteen there were the three careers. They were my biggest problem. The 4 girl looked incapacitated, she wouldn't last long. The lesser districts wouldn't really prove a problem to me; I knew the careers would track them down as their first action. It would sharpen up their skills to go against the harder tributes. District 3 was interesting. They tended to be a fairly clever and tricky. I had best watch out for them.

As I slunk back further into my cave, I felt sure that no one would come for me tonight. No one had lit fires because there was nothing to burn and with no light, there was no way they would risk trying to climb the sides of the bowl.

But still I couldn't sleep.

Instead, I decided to make use of my time and rummage through my pack to see what was in there. I had just packed the food and water onto the top of whatever had been in there and now that I started looking down to the bottom, I realised that my biggest treasure would probably be down there.

At first I just felt rope and a jacket of some sort. Then there was a pile of what felt like waterproof material; that seemed odd given the arena. I shrugged and set them aside.

Then I felt a small oddly shaped container. Frowning, I pulled it out. There was a zipper on the side and I opened it and something like glasses fell out. I felt them with my fingers. Yes, they were definitely glasses. Without thinking I put them on and the whole world turned green. I could see!

They must have been some sort of night glasses. I could have laughed for joy. This was brilliant; I could see everything! I waved my hand in front of my face and tried not to dance in excitement.

I scooted over to the edge of the cave and immediately my stomach plummeted. I had been wrong. The careers were indeed moving. They had some sort of small torch with them that barely made a light, but they must have been able to see enough to decide to start climbing. They must want these games to be over quickly.

I watched as they made their way at a snails pace to one of the cave about a hundred metres away from me. Acacia was in the lead and as the reached the mouth of the cave, she swung in with a long dagger already in her hand.

I heard a scream and then the canon went off.

The hunt had begun.

I threw all of my things into the backpack and zipped it up frantically. I heard another canon. Fear gripped me, they were not messing around. I peered out of the cave and saw the three tributes heading my way. They had grown more confident and they were climbing faster, faster than I could possibly go. They would catch me.

I swung my pack onto my back and swung out of my cave. They weren't going to kill me without a fight. My hands fumbled a little and found grip. I bit back a groan. They had huge blisters on them under the gloves. I was definitely not going to be moving quickly.

I looked back to the careers to see that they were getting closer. There was only one thing I could think to do. I climbed higher and higher.

I didn't know if they had seen me, but I couldn't take the minute to check where they were. I pulled myself up so high I knew there were going to be no more caves, but that didn't matter.

I heard a sharp hiss below me and peered down frantically to see that Acacia had spotted me. They looked angry. Maybe they didn't have any food after all.

Then, finally, I felt the top of the bowl. It was smooth and wide. My heart leapt. I pulled myself onto the top of the ledge, the night goggles making everything seen a little strange and I felt a momentary wave of vertigo as I peered down into the bowl. It looked so strange from up here.

I unhitched an arrow from my quiver and took aim. I aimed for Acacia first; she scared me.

I let the arrow fly. It whistled past her ear and I swore under my breath. These stupid goggles made judging distance impossible.

Acacia didn't seem to mind that she was being shot at. Instead she climbed faster, her little torch in her teeth. They were set on coming for me. I took a couple of steps back and tried again with the bow. I missed Slade even worse than I had Acacia. Curse these goggles!

The three careers reached the top of the bowl and pulled themselves up. I folded away the bow, it was useless now. I started walking away from the careers and looked out beyond the bowl. There was nowhere there to run, it was just a huge body of water, not even a foot below the top of the bowl. The bowl itself was below sea level!

There, shimmering and plain as day through the goggles, was a force field to show that it was the edge of the arena. Well, we weren't going to be doing any swimming at least.

The careers were now on their feet and they were ready to get me. There was nothing else I could do; I ran.

I could hear them pounding along behind me, moving slower than I was, but still coming. How long could I just keep running from them? I didn't have long to find out.

There was a loud alarm sound and I whirled around to see the careers looking as confused as I felt. We all stopped our running, waiting for whatever horror the capitol was going to unleash.

Then, the earth started to rumble. I was knocked straight off my feet and clung desperately to the side of the bowl. Water sloshed up in my face and I was hit by its saltiness. Great, I thought, not even fresh water.

The earthquake kept on coming, shaking as though it wanted to throw us off the top. Please let the careers fall, I thought, please let them fall.

A loud scream came from somewhere down in the bowl as someone fell, probably to their death. Then there was the canon and the rumbling kept on coming.

Then, finally, it abated. I breathed a sigh of relief and loosened my grip on the cement wall. I looked up at the other careers and could see their fear on their faces. They looked as shaken as I did. I was about to get to my feet when I heard it. A loud crack coming from deep within the cement. The bowl was breaking.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

I felt the ground underneath me shift and a crack appeared between my feet. I looked down as it spread further and further. I ran. Looking over my shoulder I saw the careers running in the opposite direction, which was good news, but as I saw the water starting to hiss through the cracks in what I now saw was a large dam, I knew that there was much more bad news.

The water started pooling down the bottom of the dam, it was going to flood. I briefly wondered how many of the tributes could swim and silently thanked my father for forcing me to learn from him when I was younger and had just wanted to play with dolls.

One of the cracks down the bottom, opposite where I was standing, widened and water started to gush in with force. I heard a scream and saw a girl from the lesser districts being pushed out by a jet of water. There was a canon. I had to stay at the top.

After a minute the bowl was halfway full and some of the tributes were already swimming, trying to avoid the huge jets that would force them down to the bottom. The cornucopia was buried underwater. There was another canon. This was going to be a short games.

I unslung my pack and quickly sifted through it, I was going to have to pack a little lighter. Keeping calm as the water poured in proved to be difficult. I discarded the pack as it would limit my arms too much. I found some sort of nutrient bars and shoved them down the front of my clothes, which I now recognised as a wetsuit. I discarded the bow too; it would be useless once it was wet. I had several knives but I only kept the lightest ones.

The water continued to rise.

I tried to think desperately about all I had been taught about survival. I found the water bottle and noticed that it had a strap on it that I tied around my wrist.

The water was only a metre from the top. There was another canon.

I threw on a jacket, I remember the cold being a problem when you are in water. I felt the wall beneath me crumble and I jumped into the ice cold water just as another canon went off in the distance.

The breath was almost knocked out of me and as I saw the top of the bowl disappear and wash away my pack and bow and remaining supplies. It only occurred to me then that the waterproof material I had found in it only an hour ago might have been a boat. I could have kicked myself.

Everything looked different on the water level. I could barely see anything in front of me. As I looked around in the dark, I saw Acacia and my heart stopped. After a moment I noticed that she was thrashing and struggling. She could clearly swim, her technique was good, but still she was sinking. She started to scream and struggle and I saw the problem. On her back was a huge heavy axe and a sword crossed. They were pulling her under.

It momentarily crossed my mind to swim at her, pull the stupid things off, save her from herself. But then I remembered where we were. This was the Hunger Games; you didn't save people, especially careers, in the Hunger Games.

I watched as she tired quickly. Her head went under once and popped back up as she struggled. She tried to get the weapons off her back, but she couldn't lift them high enough.

She went under again, for longer this time. And then came back up, gasping and screaming. She went under a third time. And she didn't come back up again. A canon fired.

I felt like screaming myself, but I refused to let everyone know where I was. Instead I tried to think. I looked around; there was definitely no land. If only the cornucopia had floated then there might have been hope, but there was just a vast expanse of water. I wondered if they had meant to flood the arena, it would surely be a pretty quick games if they did. But then again, maybe that was what they wanted.

I pulled myself up out of the water as much as I could. I could see Jasper about fifty metres to my left. In the water he no longer felt threatening. The rest just looked like floating heads. There were six in total. Six plus me so there was only seven tributes left. This Hunger Games was going to be so short.

I looked down below me. The water was remarkably clear and I could see the bowl with the cornucopia sitting happily down in it. There were several dark shapes down in the water and I hoped that there were no awful sea monsters placed there to make the games even shorter.

One brushed past my leg and I held back another scream, it felt strange, almost slippery. It could have been a large fish. I looked down, making sure that my night glasses didn't slip off my face and I breathed a deep sigh of relief. It was a bag. It was some sort of supply bag that was softly floating in the water.

I reached down and pulled it up. My lungs were already beginning to hurt with the effort of staying full to keep me floating. How much longer could any of us last?

I opened the pack and felt around inside. There was some waterproof fabric. My heart leapt. If the capitol had always intended on us being flooded, they would surely have provided some sort of water survival things. I opened the fabric, hoping desperately that it would be a raft.

It wasn't.

But it was something useful anyway. I found an opening and blew inside it. It blew up slightly. Sighing, I kept on blowing it up, checking over my shoulder every two blows for any signs of an enemy. Everyone seemed concerned with keeping themselves afloat, however, and I remained undisturbed.

After a while, I had a blown up….thing.

I had no idea what it was, but it was floating. It wasn't large enough to hold my entire body, but it was enough to lie on with my legs dangling a bit over the edge. It was also awkwardly shaped so I had to be careful to keep in a certain position to stay on it. It was better than nothing, though, and I was thankful.

From my now, higher position in the water, I could see that everyone else was doing similar things; trying to find something to keep them afloat and keeping as far away from each other as possible.

In the bowl, on the concrete, the careers were easily superior. Even up in the climbing wall part of the bowl, the careers had it. But in the water…this was a completely different game. No human is comfortable in water for a long time, not even careers.

I lay my head down onto the floating thing, my new best friend, and I felt myself drift off into a light sleep. No one was going to attack until they were sure that they had themselves sorted out first. Looking around at the remaining six other tributes I could tell that that would be a while.

I fell asleep thinking that our games must have broken some sort of record. Seventeen dead on the first day of the games, surely that was unprecedented. But I realised I didn't care; it was good that these games were going quickly. The sooner they were over, the sooner I could win and get back to my family in District One.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

I woke up with a burning in my throat and my eyes blinded a strange whitish green. It took me a moment to pull my thoughts together. I was blind because I still had night glasses on and it was daytime. I took them off and put them inside my suit. I could see again. Not much had changed except that instead of the suffocating night, it was a brilliantly bright day. I stretched my neck slightly and tried to stretch my stiff shoulders. And promptly fell off the floating thing.

I cursed myself as the freezing water bit into me. I could barely feel my legs from the sleep they had received in the cold. I ha to find something bigger to sleep on next time.

Next I addressed the burning in my throat. It was thirst.

I swung up the drink bottle and shook it. It was probably barely halfway full. I sighed. If I died out here in the middle of the water from dehydration I would be very annoyed. Probably a bit more than annoyed, I corrected myself with a laugh. At this point, though, it was very difficult to take death seriously.

I took a mouthful of water, letting it run down my salt incrusted throat. It felt like bliss, but it wasn't enough. I was about to swallow down the entire bottle when some hidden reserve of discipline stopped me. I would need this water later.

Instead, I pulled out one of the nutrition bar things that I had stowed in my suit the day before. I had enough good humour to laugh at the odd shapes protruding from my suit that made me look like some sort of freak as I pulled it out. I might as well have been a hit box. These were small shapes made of thick strips of paper that children would hit on their birthdays and, if they hit hard enough, little presents would come pouring out.

If the careers found me, they would probably be hitting me enough that little bars and swords would come out. I giggled and then stopped abruptly. This wasn't funny. What was wrong with me?

I forced myself to eat. It tasted bad because of the salt water and I really didn't feel like it at all, but I was clearly hysterical if I was finding the idea of my imminent demise hilarious.

I swallowed down the food, the first I had eaten since the beginning of the games, and climbed up higher on the floating thing. I managed to straddle it and keep myself fairly high out of the water with only my feet and legs from the knees dangling down. I was going to have to be careful that I didn't end up with frostbite on my legs.

I wiggled my toes. They felt rubbery. I remember once staying in the tub too long on a hot day and watching as my hands and feet went strangely like a sponge. I had been afraid that they would never go back to normal, but my mother had assured me that they would. My feet had now been in the water for probably close to six or eight hours. They would definitely be looking spongy now.

I looked around again. I had somehow managed to keep fairly away from everyone whilst I had been asleep, which was lucky. In fact, it looked as though no one had really moved at all. The water was completely still and we were completely still on top of it. It unnerved me.

I waited all day for something to happen but nothing did. Of course it wouldn't. Everyone outside of the games needed time to recover from the first day. They would need to be meeting their bookies and discussing the excitement and wondering whether they had ever had such an exciting opening to the games. I felt slightly sick as I remembered that I had said similar things only a year ago when the games hadn't had me in it.

No, at this stage, everyone would be recovering. The careers wouldn't want to kill anyone just yet; they needed to get their bearings. The capitol would all need to sleep the day away from having stayed up all night watching the games. No, I was safe for now. The worst that could happen is that someone would want to desperately end the games to stop from drowning. But, looking out at everyone who was left, it seemed that everyone had found something to keep themselves afloat for the moment. We needed rest and that made us safe. I slept again, pulling my jacket up over my head to keep the bright sun away.

There was another canon at about midday that jolted me awake. There was no movement on the water so I knew that it hadn't been violent. Someone had just slipped away, probably from exhaustion.

As night fell I pulled out another bar and drank some more water. I saw something floating towards me. It was something similar to what I was sitting on.  
It came closer and closer and I noticed that a girl kicking a single leg propelled it.

As she approached I saw that a pool of blood surrounded her floating thing. She didn't even seem to be awake, but her leg was still kicking feebly. There was a gash on her face and, I was sickened to see, her kicking leg was her only leg left.

When she approached near me, she abruptly stopped kicking. She looked at me through glazed, unseeing eyes. She looked like she was from district 11. She coughed feebly and lowered her head.

Slowly, like a child being lowered into a bath, she slipped from the floating thing into the water and she went under. I knew that she would not be getting back up again.

It took me thirty seconds to recover from seeing her and pull her floating device towards mine. I regretted not taking the rope with me, but I managed to tie them together a little and position myself so that I could finally pull my aching feet out of the water.

I pulled off my shoes straight away and put them beside me. I looked at my white, spongy feet and rubbed them in the lowering sunlight, forcing feeling back into them. There was no way I was going to lose my feet. I needed those.

Night fell and I started to feel more human once my legs became dry. I drank more of my water; it was getting disastrously low now, and ate more. I whipped my night glasses back on and did a final check on the rest of the tributes. None were close enough to me to be a problem.

I lay back as the capitol music blared through the arena and looked up at the faces of the fallen. There was Acacia and the girls from 3, 5, and 7; the boy from 8; and then, lastly, the one legged girl from 11. Their faces disappeared from the clouds.

So that left me, Jasper, Slade, that strangely resilient girl from 4, and the boy from 3. Only five left and I was still alive. I allowed a bubble of hope to rise inside me.

I knew that District One would be vying for Jasper. But, surely, if I won, they could not complain about that. With any luck all four of the others would slip off quietly in their sleep like the district 11 girl. I could only hope.


End file.
